Paper Airplanes
by Shayten
Summary: Edward knows that Alphonse is there ... so why is everyone else skeptical? Why do they keep saying he is gone?


**This plot does not belong to me.**

It is a doujinshi called** Traumerei** by **Idea**, and I have simply wrote the story out into words. I've kept to the story line of the doujinshi entirely, so if it makes no sense … then sorry. I tried my best.

It is one of the most _heart-warming_ (and _breaking_) I've ever had the pleasure of reading. If you're a fan, I highly recommend you read it.

It is **not** meant to involve any kind of pairing, simply brotherly love. However, if it can be seen any other way, then please, indulge yourself as you see fit.

* * *

**Paper Airplanes**

_Fullmetal Alchemist_

* * *

_Do you remember?_

_We flew a lot of paper planes, didn't we?_

_Raced them against each other – watched intently to see where they would land … Smiling._

_At that time we didn't know anything, didn't have anything – yet …_

_We had everything in the palm of our hands. – Alphonse Elric. _

**. . .**

Pinako Rockbell was in the middle of her afternoon coffee when a loud rapping echoed off of the front door. Huffing slightly at the inconvenience of the timing, she set aside her warm mug and made her way to said door at a casual pace, unlocking and opening the door upon reaching it. The bright midday sunshine was still high in the sky, raining down upon her humble home, though a particular shadow prevented the hot rays from hitting her face. With a neutral expression, she slowly drew her lips up into a bland smile, directed at the taller guest.

"Hello. You must have had a long trip."

The looming shadow offered a tight, emotionless smirk in reply. "Well, I owe you a visit."

Pinako noticed the smile fade almost instantly, though hers remained; she knew why he was here. "You were last out here … about three months ago." The elderly Rockbell saw a glimpse of remorse on the man's face. Standing back a little, she motioned the man in. He offered a slight nod of thanks and stepped out of the sunlit exterior. She closed the door quietly, shadowing the visitor to the kitchen. "Three months ago … Yes, I suppose it has been half a year since it happened. Sorry you had to come all the way out to the boondocks to see us …"

Though her string of words was meant to house an apology, her tone held none. The man understood this well, shaking his mop of ebony hair in response. "No, it's no trouble at all."

Pinako's smile was a little more genuine than the one he greeted her with, although, it vanished instantly as they made their way through the comfortable family home – she knew of why he was there, thus, they wasted no time with pleasantries. However, it wasn't his reason for visiting that made her smile fade, it was his next question.

"How is he?"

Pinako was slow to answer, and when she did, it came with a sigh. "The same as ever."

He was silent, unable to provide a suitable answer. Therefore, he simply followed Pinako as she escorted him through the Rockbell's lovely home. When the older woman stopped suddenly, it took all his power to not collide with her.

"Wait here; I'll go get him …"

"No, that's okay," the visitor said suddenly, drawing a curious expression up at his face. His expression was unreadable, albeit one emotion; sinful shame. **Guilt. **"I'll go myself."

**. . .**

_I still regret it. – Roy Mustang._

**. . .**

When their visitor had left to make his way up the stairs, young Winry Rockbell, a girl of sixteen with long, flowing blonde hair and intense sky-blue eyes, marched up to her grandmother and folded her arms in anger, the very emotion portrayed upon her delicate features (her looks being the** only** thing delicate about her).

"**He's** here again?"

Her tone was undiluted ice – she did not like their guest. No, she didn't like him one bit.

Pinako, very familiar with the outbursts of rage and depression, merely gazed up at her granddaughter with slight exasperation. "Winry."

Winry huffed and looked away from her grandmother, only to divert her eyes to the elderly woman when feeling a soft touch to her exposed lower arm.

"He feels responsible too, you know. He was in charge of them, and the boy came back like this …"

Winry had nothing to say. Nothing seemed important enough. Not since …

**. . .**

_I could have sworn that they'd already seen hell … perhaps even that was not enough for them._

_Now, I can say I've visited the REAL hell, in the split second—when it started. _

… _This is my fault. – Roy Mustang._

**. . .**

He knocked lightly, almost tentatively, before pushing open the already ajar bedroom door. Peering in to the sunlit room, faded brown eyes took in the surroundings before he took a hesitant step forwards. Shutting the door, he gazed around once more. A light breeze hit his cheek, originating from the open window, the curtains flowing with each little gust. "I'm coming in," he announced, quite pointlessly.

No one answered.

He stepped closer to the only bed, occupied by a smaller frame deep in slumber. Long strands of golden hair flared out around the bedding, tangled, but retaining the silky smooth texture he knew well nonetheless. Soft breathing emitted from the smaller form, and he found it hard to maintain eye contact, even though no one was looking back.

Instead, he took a third look around the room. He spotted a bunch of flowers set nicely upon the desk in the corner. Reaching over, he plucked one of the dusty brown flowers from the pack and twirled it between two fingers. A niggling, tormented thought shot through his mind and he abided by his sudden whim (childish, too, but he ignored it) and he placed the flower behind the sleeping boy's ear.

The smaller of the two stirred slightly, turning minutely on the bed, rustling the sheet covering him. "Nnn … I said, cut it out … Al."

He withdrew his hand suddenly, as though shocked, his expression the same. What the boy had said, that **simple name** … it made his heart turn heavy with guilt and sorrow. His hand, gloved in black leather, covered his mouth from his horrible surprise and he turned his gaze downwards. Something his missed before took over his mind, curiosity pushing away the negativity from before.

A paper airplane was one the floor, sat next to his boot. Gazing around again, more downwards this time, he spotted several more lying haphazardly about the room.

_Paper airplanes …?_

"Nnn …"

He looked back up to see drowsy eyelids slowly fluttering open, startling golden irises concealed beneath them. The boy slowly woke, unaware of the shadow looming over his bed for a few seconds. But when he did notice, his eyes opened briskly and shocked confusion clouded his face.

"Uwaah, C-Coronel!" The boy sat up suddenly, stuttering.

The visitor, being the one and only Roy Mustang, offered no emotions on his face and gave a small wave to the boy. "Hello."

The poor boy, shocked from his slumber, was Edward Elric, and he was none-too-pleased about his rude awakening. "Y-you!" he exclaimed, scowling with great displeasure up at Roy, who looked a little amused, "when did you …!"

"I've been here for a bit."

"Don't freak me out like that!" Edward snapped, calming his nerves and setting his heart back in his chest. "Always frickin' showing up unexpected … Huh?" He'd slowly been reaching up to scratch the back of his head when his fingers came into contact with something soft, fragile … he almost deadpanned upon finding a flower stuck in his hair – a sick joke he knew Roy all too well for. "And cut this crap out!"

He threw the flower at Roy with dying annoyance. Roy caught the pretty little plant and tucked it back away with the rest of the bunch. "I had business in the neighbourhood, so I thought I'd stop by."

_It's not "Coronel" anymore, Fullmetal. Though I suppose your title is different too … Ed._

"I dropped in to see how you guys were doing, but …"

"Dropped in is right," Edward commented with a quirky grin, his bedhead one to put most to shame. He was the only one to get away with interrupting Roy without consequences. That much hadn't changed.

"… I certainly hadn't expected this," Roy continued, used to the distracted mind of the blond. He gestured to the flowers, the golden hues of Edward following. "You've taken up flower arranging?"

"Oh that? That's Winry's thing," Edward began, reaching behind his head, grabbing at his long hair. He started to braid it, working his way down the length, smoothing it out as he went. "Says 'Beautiful things are good for healing' or something like that. Told her I didn't need 'em, but …"

As Edward trailed off, his thoughts wandering while he played with his hair, Roy noticed it looked different to when he saw the boy last. He brought his up. "You've gotten your hair styled."

"Hm? Yeah …" Edward agreed nonchalantly, not really showing much interest. But then, despite his demeanour, he gave Roy a sheepish grin. "Al was bitching at me to get it done properly."

Roy was famously known for being able to contain his emotions, even in the most dire, most personal, of situations, but he could not restrain the shock-horror of hearing those words, that name … his heart gave another painful beat, reminding him that he was, indeed, awake and in reality.

**. . .**

_This is … pure insanity. – Roy Mustang._

**. . .**

_One day earlier … _

Edward was standing in the last rays of the daylight. The sun was slowly giving way to the night, and he was none the wiser. He simply looked down at a headstone with a fresh bouquet of flowers placed neatly on the lower part, a sad smile governed his features.

"It's been a while … mom."

His tone was laced with a heart-warming sadness. Every time he visited his late mother's grave, he always felt his heart shift and flail, as though it was still affected by the memories. He knew his mind was.

**. . .**

_Little by little, bit by bit … picked away at, shackled, chained … _

_I know that life is based on making mistakes and that's supposed to be okay. But still … with every breath that I gasp for, I feel like reality is so merciless, it makes you want to scream in frustration._

… _I think that every time I come here, and honestly … I can't believe I want to say, "Hi, I'm home". – Edward Eric. _

**. . .**

Edward sat by his mother's grave, for how long, he didn't know. His knees were pulled to his chest with his head buried between his arms, folded atop of his knees. The wind blew a pleasant breeze that sent Goosebumps and shivers along his entire form. It was nice. Nice to just sit there and let the world pass by for a little. If only for a little …

"Oh, there you are!"

Edward started, jumping unnoticeably. With slightly widened eyes, he turned his head to locate the source of the voice greeting him so affectionately, so … familiarly …

"Sheesh … I was wondering where you'd gotten to!"

A beaming smile was all for him, but Edward couldn't breathe. His eyes were frozen, wide open, and his mouth and voice seemingly unable to function. Standing before him with his sandy-yellow hair blowing in the breeze, eyes two shades darker than his own molten gold, and smiling at him with the most amicable expression on his face …

… was **Alphonse**.

Edward remained immobile, staring up at the **definitely-solid** form of his younger brother like a star struck fan. Alphonse shifted his weight to his other foot, still giving his older brother his most disarmingly charming smile.

"Auntie says it's time for dinner."

"… A, Al …" Edward barely managed to speak at all.

Alphonse looked a little taken aback by his brother's odd disposition – it was like he'd seen a ghost! "What's wrong?" Edward didn't answer him and his confused expression was beginning to house mild concern. "Brother, what's with you? You're giving me the weirdest look—"

"… Al, is that you …?"

"Huh?" Alphonse said, perplexed by his brother's disbelief.

"Your body, you're back to normal … how …?"

Alphonse backed away a little as his brother began to get to his feet, the same disbelief clearly portrayed on his face as before. "What are you talking about? We finished our journey and came home. Remember?"

Edward stopped mid-movement and stared harshly at Alphonse for a few seconds, trying to gather such memories he** knew** he should have … He found nothing, but instead of questioning it, he rubbed his hand to his temple and frowned. Maybe he was just tired? "O … Oh. We did, did we …?"

Alphonse giggled merrily, dispelling Edward's current confusion somewhat. "Sheesh, what a weird brother I've got!"

Edward stared. Alphonse smiled warmly, and held out his hand. "Come on."

Edward faltered for a moment before rushing to grab the hand held out to him. It was solid, real. Alphonse was there. He allowed his younger brother to pull him to his feet with ease, him being the smaller of the two (how unfair!). What he didn't know, however, was how to stop the smile of absolute delight from plaguing his face. He knew he'd be teased for it later.

**. . .**

_That's right. We came home. Our journey is done. – Edward Elric._

**. . .**

Edward followed Alphonse along the road, matching him stride for stride to ensure they stayed side-by-side. He found it a little difficult since his younger, yet taller, brother had longer strides. Mentally making a note of tormenting said younger brother about it later, he didn't really take any notice of where they were going … until he recognised surroundings that were painfully familiar.

"Huh? This place …" He shook his head, clearing out the bad recollections and made to catch up with his brother, who was leaving him behind. "Hey, Al! Where the heck are you going?"

"Huh?" Alphonse inquired before giving Edward another award-winning smile. "Home, of course!"

"H-home …?" Edward echoed, somewhat cynical. He remembered that they burned their 'home' to ashes years earlier … but it was **there**. Their home was back. No longer a pile of rubble and dust, but a gloriously pretty little house, standing tall and proud. He felt his breath catch in his throat, which felt dry and sore. He swallowed a few times before addressing his current predicament to Alphonse without sharing eye contact – he couldn't look away from their home.

"What's wrong?" Alphonse asked, feeling the sudden change in his brother's attitude.

"That's our house," Edward said, tone holding surprisingly steady. "Why is this … here …?"

It all just **made no sense**. He had no memories of this!

Alphonse turned away from admiring their house to focus solely on his brother. "You said it wasn't until we had a home again that we'd have everything back … we built this place back together, remember? With alchemy, but you know …"

"Oh, really? Yeah, uh, I guess …" Edward murmured, putting his hand to his mouth from habit when thinking deeply. Why did he have no recollections of this? Why was everything so surreal to him?

Why … was he questioning it? Wasn't this what he always wanted?

Alphonse stared blankly at Edward, expression deadly serious. "Brother, are you sure you're alright?"

Edward snapped from his stupor and faced his brother, offering a hasty, "Y-yeah, I'm fine!"

Alphonse seemed satisfied with his reply as he smiled brightly a moment later. He motioned to the house, indicating he wanted Edward to go first. "Everyone's waiting for us inside."

Edward grinned back at Alphonse and quickly ran to the door, bursting through with a chirpy, "I'm home!"

Pinako and Winry were sat at the table situated by the door, looking uneasy and nervous before he burst through the door. The moment Winry got sight of the blond-haired boy, she shot up from her seat and thumped her hands down hard on the table. "Ed!" she cried out, clearly distressed, "jeez, you had me worried! I had no idea where you went …"

Edward, subtly confused, answered simply and honestly. "I just went to visit mom's grave …" And then he looked at the table, which was clear of everything except a few coffee mugs. "Huh? I thought Al said dinner was ready."

Pinako and Winry stood upright, still. They shared equal looks of puzzled displeasure, each aiming a very concerned look at Edward. He waited for them to speak, to voice their obvious worry about something. Winry spoke up first.

"E-Ed … what did you just say?"

"Huh?" Edward was bewildered at the sudden drop of temperature in the room, and the chill Winry's intonation took. "Like I said, Al called me in for dinner, so why …?"

"Ed …" Pinako said, her tone taking that of someone soothing a hurting child.

Winry moved next, thumping her hands down on the table again, this time, balled into tight fists. "You're still doing that?"

"Winry?" Edward was downright confused. He looked at each of them separately for some sort of explanation. He received none, however.

"Al—" Winry began. "—Al is—"

Pinako's expression suddenly turned cold, and she directed a harsh warning to her granddaughter. "Winry!"

"**Al is gone.**"

A memory of a transmutation circle flooded all of Edward's mind, but he didn't know the meaning behind it. He **knew** of it, but didn't _know_ it. It was frustrating, dancing their at the edge of his reach, taunting almost … "W … what are you talking about? Winry?"

If this was some form of a joke, it was incredibly foolish and hurtful. He didn't like it, joking about Alphonse being gone like that. Not after everything they went through.

"Ed …" Pinako said again, in that same, devastated tone.

He couldn't handle it any more – this joke was not funny to begin with, but it was fading fast into nothing but an irksome bother. "What do you mean, 'Al's gone'?"

Winry looked ready to burst into tears at any given moment and Pinako's expression was unreadable. He didn't know why they were taking everything so seriously. Alphonse was **right behind him**. "Al is right—"

He made the motion for them to look behind him, following the turn of his own body, he looked behind him too. His sentence was cut off midway as … as …

**Alphonse was not there**.

Understanding had vanished from his mind and Edward turned around fully, looking out of the empty doorway. He wasn't outside either …

"What the … Al?"

"Ed …" Winry whispered, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. She watched helplessly as Edward began searching fruitlessly for his younger brother. It hurt more than anyone would ever know to watch him search desperately … knowing that he'd never find him.

"H-he was just there! Al!" Edward shouted, hysteria clearly evident in his voice. He ran to the door, gripping the frame tightly, frantically searching for Alphonse. "He was right beside me! Al! AL!"

"STOP IT!" Winry's yell resounded about the house and made Edward pause in his search to look at her. He couldn't understand why she was crying, he'd find Alphonse easily enough … "Please … Ed … Pull yourself together …"

"Win—"

"I don't want to see you like this …" Winry sobbed, her voice distorted by her tears. She walked up to him and put her hands firmly on his shoulders, staring straight into the frantic sunshiny hues. "Please, get it through your head. I'm begging you … **he's not here**. Al is _gone_."

"I-I don't get it …" Edward said, stuttering at the absurdity of Winry's claims. "What the hell do you mean, he's gone …?! We finished our journey and came home, didn't we?!"

Winry's face held nothing but the deepest of agonies. She literally looked like someone had crushed her very heart. "Finished your journey …? I guess you did …"

Edward couldn't comprehend why the atmosphere seemed so solemn … so depressing. All he needed to do was find Alphonse, which they were preventing him from doing with chatting nonsense! "… What's with you? We got everything back, didn't we? My arm too …" To prove his point, Edward shrugged back the long sleeves of his coat, revealing his very fleshy right hand. "Look!"

Winry shuddered as another stream of tears joined her already soaked cheeks. She looked on the verge of breaking down. She pulled away from him a little, gritting her teeth furiously. "Ed …"

"Winry, that's enough," Pinako muttered, a few tears clinging to the edge of her eyes too.

Edward just didn't understand it all.

"Ed … in order to get your arm and leg back, Al …"

"**Winry**!" Pinako chided, tears splashing down on to the table in front of her. Her tone suggested that whatever Winry was about to say was taboo …

"Al, he …" Winry began, clearly ignoring her grandmother's indignant demands, "… gave himself as a sacrifice …"

_Brother … I'm sorry … _The transmutation circle … it was drawn by Alphonse.

Edward fell to his knees, hands hitting the floor in front of him. His breathing was laboured; eyes wide open with undiluted pain. He remembered … he remembered Alphonse; he remembered the armour, devoid of any life …

Winry skittered away from Edward, hand covering her mouth, eyes wide and bright with fright. He was having a breakdown, and there was no way to stop it.

But he had to know – Alphonse was not there.

**. . .**

_NO, NO, NO_

_NO, NO—I CAN'T TAKE THIS_

_I DON'T WANT THIS_

_IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE THIS_

_AL, AL, PLEASE DON'T—_

…

_Don't leave me … Al – Edward Elric._

**. . .**

"**Brother**!"

Edward's eyes snapped open. At some point, he had fallen asleep, and something solid was pressing lightly against his back, while something scratchy was making his cheek itch … He sat up slowly, gazing around drowsily. A tree to his left had been attacking his cheek, while the thing pressed against his back …

It was Alphonse's hand. Well, Alphonse's suit of armours hand. But still it was …

"… A, Al …?"

Alphonse giggled, though the armoured suit made no motion to. It was just his voice, but it was enough … "Sheesh! I was wondering where you'd gotten to! Auntie says that dinner is ready."

Edward couldn't quite believe his eyes. "Al … is that you?"

He could almost see Alphonse smiling in the suit. "I've been looking all over for yo—huh?"

"Is that **really** you, Al …?"

"Yes, it's me. It's me, Alphonse!" Alphonse confirmed, giggling again at the odd behaviour Edward was living. He removed his large hand from his older brother's back, but made no extra movement – he was going nowhere. "Like there are any other talking suits of armour wandering around! What a weird brother I ha—"

Edward had been slowly reaching out his right hand – automailed hand – towards Alphonse, trembling. "Al." With one fluid motion, he launched himself off of the floor and onto the smooth steel exterior of his brother's temporary body. He flung his arms around the large body without a word, trying his absolute best to not let the tears threatening to fall, loose.

Alphonse was taken aback. His brother was versatile at best at times, but even this was uncharacteristic. "B-Brother?"

Edward said nothing. His automail hand grabbed one of the large spikes upon the armour, refusing to budge.

"Brother, what's wrong?"

**. . .**

_Ah, a dream … that's good. – Edward Elric._

**. . .**

Edward stepped lightly along the stony path, ensuring he kept a constant ear on the steady clanging of each footstep Alphonse made behind him. Unsatisfied, he called out to his brother, "You're there, aren't you, Al?"

"Hm?" came the reply, "yeah, I'm here."

Edward, still very unsatisfied with the situation, let his brilliant mind whir momentarily before a good plan settled in his mind. Though the walk back to their home wasn't very far, he wouldn't take any more chances. So, he stopped in place, nearly causing Alphonse to crash into him. Turning his head to face his little brother, Edward suddenly said, "Hey, walk in front of me."

"Eh?" Alphonse sounded, a little perplexed. What was this all of a sudden? "Why? That's strange …"

"Just do it!" Edward said shortly, closing any room for argument with his 'Big Brother' voice.

Alphonse merely remained still. "I would feel weird leading you, Brother."

Edward wasn't budging so Alphonse did instead, albeit with a sigh. With Alphonse now stood in front of him, Edward breathed a little easier – there was no way Alphonse could disappear on him this time, he'd make sure of it.

Experimentally, he closed his eyes, shielding the golden hues from the outside world. A minute later, he reopened them.

… Alphonse was gone.

The road ahead was empty.

Edward felt the emotion drain from his face. He lifted up his automail arm and absently reached out beside him, fighting the urge to crawl up into a ball and simply sit there until death claimed him … when his hand clinked against metal beside him.

"Brother?"

Edward's eyes snapped to his right and landed on a very real, very alive Alphonse, looking down at him. "Uh, I …"

"What's wrong?" Alphonse asked, watching his brother's reaction carefully. Edward was jumpy, skittish. Nervous almost. "Did you have a bad dream when you fell asleep? You wanna hold hands?"

Edward glanced at the hand held out to him generously; genuinely ready to baby his older brother if necessary. A slight blush coated his cheeks and he looked down, somewhat embarrassed of being mollycoddled by his little brother. Something then clicked in his mind, something certain of leaving Alphonse with no escape!

"SIT!"

"What?" Alphonse exclaimed, shocked by the sudden order barked by Edward. His older brother gave him a look that left no argument.

"Turn around and sit!"

Alphonse abided by Edward's strange order, squatting. "Wh-what's with this, all of a sudden—ack!"

His balance was suddenly thrown off as Edward's full weight was on him. He looked up to see his older brother perched quite happily on his shoulders. "B-Brother!"

"Okay, now go," Edward concluded, joy clear in his tone. This was the perfect plan.

"Honestly," Alphonse huffed, false vexation laced with his tone, "what's up with this? It's really selfish of you—you're so pushy."

Edward stayed quiet as Alphonse got back to his feet, balance realigned. Alphonse stepped forwards gingerly and then, finding his center balance, happily continued to walk, Edward sat on his back, letting go of his earlier paranoia of Alphonse disappearing again, actually enjoying the ride.

"Nice view from up here …"

"Isn't it though?" Alphonse concurred contently, unaware of his brother's sudden frown.

"Sounds like you're bragging …"

"But, actually, I can't wait until I'm back to normal. I want to be able to see your face up close, Brother."

Edward felt a little surprise take shelter in his dainty mind. Then he threw up his trademark scowl and said, "There're more interesting things to see than that, stupid—"

"I'm going to get your limbs back for you. I **am** going to see you fixed, you know."

It wasn't often Alphonse interrupted him, and this time, it caught Edward by surprise. He didn't immediately reply, instead targeting the sudden terrible chill shocking his spine. Anger burst forth through his emotional wall and he turned it on his little brother – why did he say such things? Did he not know – of course he didn't know, it was all in Edward's head after all; it was _just a dream_.

"I'm fine, don't you worry about me!" he growled in a voice he knew Alphonse knew to take seriously. "Just think about yourself now, you hear?!"

If he had listened, Alphonse would've responded with his usual, 'Okay brother', but his attention was somewhere else suddenly. Edward followed his line of sight to above them, eyes widening –

"Ah! A paper plane!" Alphonse chirped happily, encouraging his brother to behold the unusual sight too. "We used to make those a lot, didn't we. Back before we knew how to do alchemy."

"Yeah, you're right," Edward nodded, uncaring that Alphonse couldn't see. He was more curious as to where the airplane came from … "Sure brings back memories …"

**. . .**

_I want to go back to those days. – Edward Elric._

**. . .**

"Brother, do you think we would have been better off if we had never heard of alchemy?"

Alphonse's voice suddenly pierced the silent, tranquil peace period they had. Edward blinked at the question, pondering his reply. He let his emotion and mind meld, thinking over the very personal question (to them both), before he sighed lightly, eyes shutting.

"I don't know."

Alphonse, happy with the reply, continued. "Me, I'm sort of glad I know how to do it … Because that means I'm going to be able to put you back to normal."

Edward didn't reply that time. He had no words to say. Alphonse took the silence as it was, but seemed somewhat alarmed at the sudden trickles of water hitting his head, flowing off of him to the floor. "Hm, it's sprinkling."

"… Yeah," Edward agreed with no intention of revealing the truth of the water to Alphonse. Instead, he gazed out at the sun setting in the sky with glistening eyes. "Al … I swear, I'm going to fix you. So please … don't leave me behind."

A moment of silence passed between the brother's before Alphonse spoke up. "Leave you? Where would I go?"

"I dunno, anywhere!" Edward choked out, tears blearing his vision. He wiped furiously at his eyes with his sleeves, looking down at hearing Alphonse giggle.

"Of course I wouldn't do that! Don't be silly, Brother!"

Alphonse continued on his path, staying quiet for a few moments, before speaking in a gentle but serious intonation.

"We'll always be together."

The brother's journey in the afternoon sun was one of great joy. Edward was calm again, and Alphonse was there. That was all he needed. Together forever …

**. . .**

_Together forever_

… _An indulgent little fairy tale. – Roy Mustang._

**. . .**

Roy leaned down and retrieved a paper airplane from the floor.

"Yes," Pinako agreed with Roy. They had been speaking for the past few moments away from Edward. "He probably made that one too."

"Why would he be doing that? There were airplanes in his room as well." It made no sense to him.

The older woman shrugged. "Who knows? It could be some type of regression."

… Outside, on the balcony of the Rockbell house, a long mane of golden hair flowed with the wind, the owner, happily chatting himself away, laughing mirthfully …

"But," Pinako continued, faintly aware of laughter from somewhere outside, "It's more like he's having a dream. A dream of where his brother is always with him. Almost as if … he's dreaming the perfect world. Do you really want to wake him up from that?"

Pinako's last question was directed at Roy, who looked astounded. But when he offered no answer, the elderly lady continued.

"It could just be our egos, asserting our own selfish desires. Can we honestly know better?"

… the birds chirped in a nearby tree and the blond hair whipped around to stare for a moment, before his lips broke out into another heart-stopping smile, agreeing tentatively …

Roy looked down at the airplane he clutched in his hand, staring at it, hoping it would give him great knowledge. "… I don't know. What do you think of Ed, the way he is now?"

Pinako took a moment to respond, puffing away at her cigarette. "Do you think I'm being cruel?" Roy searched, locking his gaze with that of the older woman. "Look at him. He's **smiling**."

Pinako turned to gaze out of a large window to her right, Roy followed suit. Standing out there, carefree and joyous, was Edward. He was leaning against the balcony, smiling at the sudden breeze taking away his hair and breath. The boy looked so … so …

"Understand, Mr Soldier?" Pinako said, a small smile of her own forming. "Right now, that boy is **happy**."

**. . .**

_A beautiful nightmare, one where he's happy …_

_In others words, paradise. – Pinako Rockbell._

**. . .**

"Show your face around here more often, it's been a pleasure," Pinako insisted, opening the door for Roy. "Come again."

Roy smiled down at the elderly woman, nodding. "Yes, I intend to."

He was halfway out of the door when Pinako spoke up again. "As long as you don't expect too much out of him, or force him into a confrontation … Winry and I will be happy to welcome you in. Until he decides, to start changing on his own."

**. . .**

"… Say, grandma …"

"Hm? What?"

"Ever since they failed to transmute their mother, from that day on, Al only existed as a soul in that armour, right?"

"Yeah."

"You know … I've been thinking … maybe Al was a ghost to begin with. … Ah! I'm sorry! Don't mind me, I was just babbling crazy stuff …"

"Ah, I think I know where you're going with that. Maybe you're right. If that's true, then maybe Al is still with Ed now. Only Ed knows the answer to that one."

**. . .**

Roy was walking along the dusty road, his mind packed full of thoughts and questions about the duration of the day. His pace was casual, slow – he had no desire to rush anywhere in such a distracted state. So much so, that when the sudden shadow running along the path next to him appeared, it took him a moment to realise.

A paper airplane landed a foot in front of him when he stopped.

Turning on the spot, he sought out the origin … when suddenly a voice called, "COLONEL!"

Dull brown eyes swept the plains behind him, finding his target. Edward was still out on the balcony, and he was smiling broadly at him. Alphonse was standing behind –

Roy stared, unwilling to blink.

**Alphonse was standing behind Edward**.

He was also smiling, much like his brother, just a little more composed. Roy had never seen Alphonse before, not in the flesh … or transparent flesh … nonetheless, he could tell they were related.

Roy knew then that he had made the right choice in leaving.

"See you later!" Edward called out, smiling like a madman still. Behind him, Alphonse nodded his head politely at Roy.

Roy was still staring.

But his composure returned quickly, and he smiled at the boys.

"You really were there, weren't you?"

Roy bent down and picked up the paper plane carefully. He tucked it away inside his coat and waved to the boys. Edward waved back merrily and Alphonse closed his eyes with a contented smile. They both turned away when Roy made his way along the path again, stealing quick glimpses as he moved further away.

Alphonse was still there.

And Edward was still smiling.

**. . .**

_Hmm? I see … _

_So that's how it is. _

_You both are just fine. – Roy Mustang._

**. . .**

_I'll be right over, Al._

* * *

~ **_End. _**


End file.
